Holocaust-Era Assets Main Page

Cold War

1. Castelmur, Linus von. Schweizerisch-alliierte Finanzbeziehungen im šbergang
vom Zweiten Weltkrieg zum kalthen Krieg: Die deutschen Guthaben in der Schweiz
zwischen Zwangsliquidierung und Freigable (1945-1952)/Swiss-Allied financial
relations during the transition from World War II to the Cold War: the German
property in Switzerland in between compulsory liquidation and voluntary release
(1945-1952). Zurich: Chronos, 1992. 421 pp. (Revised version of author's PhD
from the University of Basel, 1991).Note: The treatment of the German assets
in Switzerland was a central issue for the Swiss Foreign Ministry to resolve
after the Second World War. It was not only about important material interests,
but also about the position of Switzerland within the newly formed system of
international relations. From the Allied viewpoint, Switzerland had compromised
itself by its cooperation with the German National Socialism. Thus the Allies
demanded exptradition of the booty and all other German assets that had made
their way to Switzerland. The author reconstructs the negotiations from 1945
to 1952 showing how the Swiss Foreign Ministry overcame its isolation within
the world community.

2. Deshmukh, Marion. "Recovering culture: the Berlin National
Gallery and the U.S. occupation 1945-1949". Central European History 27(1994):
411-439. Note: The author used NARA's OMGUS records to ascertain American
contributions to Western Germany's postwar cultural identity, specifically that
of the Berlin National Gallery.

3. Goi, Uki. Peron y los alemanes: la verdad sobre el espionaje
nazi y los fugitivos del reich (Peron and the Germans: the truth about Nazi
espionage and fugitives of the Reich). Buenos Aires: Editorial Sudamericana,
1998. 317 pp. Note: This book emphasizes the role of the German secret service
intelligence in Argentina during WWII and their efforts to determine South American
neutrality, as well as the role of Nazi escapees at the end of the war. Shelved in Library at F3021.G3G6 1998.

5. Grimsted, Patricia Kennedy. The odyssey of the Smolensk Archive:
plundered Communist records for the service of anti-Communism. Occasional Papers
in Russian and East European Studies no 1201. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh,
Center for Russian and East European Studies, 1995.

6. Koller, Frédéric. "The inevitable compromises
of Swiss neutrality to survive the war... and preserve solidarity". Journal
de Gèneve et Gazette de Lausanne(November 19, 1996). Note: In this interview, historian Antoine Fleury claims that
it is mythology to believe that a neutral country can avoid making concessions.
Yet because few countries in the world were not assisted during the war by Switzerland's
humanitarian services or its diplomatic service, its neutral status was respected
by both sides. Even after the war, it was necessary for Switzerland to compromise
with the Allies or risk being shut out of the reconstruction of Europe and the
world. Filed in Library at K6.

7. Koller, Frédéric. "What they were saying
fifty years ago". Journal de Gèneve et Gazette de Lausanne(November
19, 1996). Note: This short article links to an article written in 1946
about the Washington Accords' agreements, noting the legalistic tone of the
report. Filed in Library at K7. Online: http://www.geneva-international.org/GVA3/Forum/Dossier/50ans.E.html.

8. Loftus, John and Mark Aarons. The secret war against the
Jews: how western espionage betrayed the Jewish people. New York: St. Martin's
Press, 1994. xi, 658 pp. Note: The authors contend that the secret bias of Western governments
against the Jews was and is the single largest obstacle to peace in the Middle
East. Shelved in library at E183.8.I7L63.

9. Myers, Bernard. "Postwar art in Germany". College
Art Journal 10, no.3(Spring 1951): 251-256. Note: The author describes the postwar artistic situation in
Germany, as well as the situation of the German museums which were divested
of their modern works during the Third Reich. Filed in Library at M15.

10. Myers, Bernard. "Postwar art in Germany". College
Art Journal 10, no.3(Spring 1951): 251-256. Note: The author describes the postwar artistic situation in
Germany, as well as the situation of the German museums which were divested
of their modern works during the Third Reich. Filed in library at M15.

11. Nazis and Axis collaborators were used to further U.S. anticommunist
objectives in Europe -- some immigrated to the United States. Washington: General
Accounting Office, 1985. iv, 40 pp.

12. Powers, Ronald. "Bill could force US to reveal Cold
War dealings with Nazis". Jerusalem Post(August 2, 1998). Note: Legislation sponsored by Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan
would force the Justice Department and other agencies to declassify top-secret
documents describing the US intelligence community's dealings with Nazi war
criminals in the Cold War years. Filed in library at P8.

13. Powers, Ronald. "Files on U.S. help for Nazis sought
declassification bill advances". Sacramento Bee (California)(August 2,
1998). Note: Under pressure, U.S. federal agencies may be forced to
declassify records related to the Intelligence community dealings with Nazi
war criminals in the Cold War years. Filed in Library at P11.

14. Ruffner, Kevin C. "CIA's support to the Nazi war criminal
investigations". Studies in Intelligence 1, no.1(1997). Note: Author traces investigations of agency obstruction of
legal action against Nazi war criminals during the Cold War. Ruffner cites GAO
reports, OSI efforts, and other investigations which demonstrate that the CIA
and other intelligence agencies had a mixed track record during the Cold War.
Filed in library at R10. Online: http://www.odci.gov/csi/studies/97unclas/naziwar.html.

15. Schaffer, Michael. "Art hunter: archive hound Willi
Korte is the art world's no-shit Sherlock". Washington City Paper(November
29, 1996): 22-29. Note: When Friedrich Gutmann's heirs sought to find the Degas
and Renoir works confiscated by the Nazis, they turned to Willi Korte for help.
Willi Korte dedicates himself full-time to returning artistic property to its
rightful owners. Although plunder has been common throughout history, Hitler's
Germany made an art of it; when war broke out, Hitler's looting spread through
Europe. Many art collectors and dealers were Jewish; although some escaped,
few had the chance to take their art which was sent to Germany. When Stalin's
armies took Berlin, where most art treasures were held, they were not inclined
to return property. As a result, parts of the Nazi victims' property as well
as Germany's own inheritance disappeared during the Cold War. Willi Korte has
stayed with the search for stolen art and in the process he has built a body
of knowledge on the topic. In the early 1980s, Willi Korte was asked by German
contacts to look into rumors about the Quedlinburg cache missing since World
War II. Korte tracked down medieval German manuscripts worth over $25 million
dollars in a tiny North Texas town, leading one journal to call him "art's
Indiana Jones". The Quedlinburg case demonstrated to Korte the seaminess
of the art world with its "don't ask/don't tell" attitude toward historical
theft. Filed in the Library at S2.

16. Schemo, Diana Jean. "A Nazi's trail leads to a gold
cache in Brazil". New York Times(September 23, 1997): 1. Note: Albert Blume was born in Germany where he became a member
of the Nazi Party. He moved to Brazil in 1938 and left a cache of gold when
he died. Brazil's commission to investigate Nazi war criminals contends that
Blume was sent to Brazil as a spy and later as a channel for gold.

17. Simpson, Christopher. America's recruitment of Nazis and
its effects on the Cold War. New York: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1988. xv,
398 pp. Note: According to the author, anti-Communist appeals made
in Italy after WWII were funded by US "black currency" that came from
captured Nazi German assets including victim gold and currency.

18. Smith, Arthur Lee. Hitler's gold: the story of the Nazi
war loot. Oxford: Berg, 1996. xix, 174 pp. Note: An account of how assets looted from Holocaust victims,
and from the treasuries of occupied nations, became a pawn in the Cold War struggle
between the US and the Soviet Union, and how the issue has remained unresolved.
Smith examines the Safehaven program and the post-war restitution negotiations.